Chapter Text
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you kinda look like someday
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Kara sighs and recrosses her legs on the courthouse steps, shifting her textbook across her knees and glancing up at one of the few lingering protesters on the sidewalk below who's been falling asleep against his 'Luthor Deserves To Burn' sign for the better part of thirty minutes.
She narrows her eyes as he sways, tipping a bit as though he's about to topple over into the street behind him, but his buddy elbows him and he snorts awake, scrubbing a weary hand over his face.
She understands the sentiment, glancing down at her watch. It's nearing eight-thirty and the judge has yet to dismiss for the day, and with Lex Luthor's trial running well into its second month, and 12-hour court proceedings becoming the norm, she's pretty sure the protester can be forgiven for dozing.
Though Kara really has no room to complain as she's only been hanging around the courthouse for three days now, and only to be here for Clark while Lois is upstate for her sister's graduation, from which she'll be returning tomorrow, but still, Kara's brain is basically mush only three days into this. She seriously can't wrap her head around the people who've been doing this every day for the past month and a half.
True heroes, all of them.
The courthouse doors open quietly behind her and she looks up, hoping it's Clark coming to tell her they're finished for the night, but instead, she finds herself looking up at none other than Lena Luthor, Lex's regally composed younger sister.
According to Clark, Lena has dutifully attended each day of proceedings since the trial began, watching on with cool dispassion as lawyers present virtual mountains of evidence detailing every one of Lex's horrific crimes.
Kara's heard people speculating on the possible reasons for Lena's continued presence, despite being left off the list of character witnesses, and having not yet been called as a witness for the prosecution, while the rest of the Luthors have only sat in sporadically.
Some say Lena must naively believe her brother is actually innocent, as Mrs. Luthor has passionately vocalized to the press. Others push that Lena's just like him, and that she probably supported his amoral endeavors, and the DA should be filing charges against her as well. While still others brush it off as merely an act of personal gain, playing the part of the supportive, but removed, little sister as she sits in line to take over the company in Lex's soon-to-be-permanent absence. But Clark doesn't trust her an inch, and Kara doesn't know what to think.
And as for the woman herself, Lena hasn't said a word on the subject, often ditching or ignoring the press, and never taking the stand in court for one side or the other. So everything up to this point has been pure speculation based on her presence alone, and given how little her striking face actually gives away in regards to her emotional state, it's really anyone's guess.
But as Kara watches the terminally composed woman stagger from the building, her breathing erratic and her hands shaking horribly when she reaches into her pocket for a pack of cigarettes, Kara wonders if, perhaps, they're all wrong about Lena Luthor.
The woman leans back against the courthouse wall, hands shaking so badly that it's actually a struggle for her to light her cigarette, and before Kara can give it a single thought, she's moving to the woman's side, gently prying the lighter from her hands.
"Here, let me," Kara offers gently, cupping her hand around the flame.
Lena blows out an unsteady, smoky breath of relief, her muscles relaxing minutely and takes her light back, steadfastly avoiding Kara's eyes.
"Thanks," she murmurs before taking another drag.
Kara jams her hands into her pockets awkwardly and shrugs. "It's no problem. Are you, I mean, um, are you okay?"
"Fine," Lena says automatically, but the tension in her jaw and the lingering tremble in her fingers belies the truth.
Gnawing on her lip, Kara glances around, entirely unsure how to proceed, but also unsure she's comfortable leaving the clearly not-fine woman to suffer alone. So Kara just leans against the stone wall beside Lena, and, for several long minutes, the pair silently watch the protesters mill about on the sidewalk below.
Eventually, Lena flicks her cigarette butt away and pulls another from the pack, managing to light this one all on her own.
"So," Lena starts, blowing out a small cloud of smoke and finally turning to look at her companion. "Are you with the protesters or the press?"
"O-oh, no, neither," Kara stutters out, a little surprised the woman is speaking to her at all. "I'm just here for my cousin. For support. An-and doing homework." She gestures to her backpack and books laying on the stairs a few yards ahead of them.
Lena quirks one sharp brow. "You're just casually doing homework outside the courthouse that's hosting one of the most influential trials of the century?"
Kara blushes for reasons that are beyond her and breathes out an awkward laugh. "Well, I tried doing it inside, but then one of the marshals escorting Dr. Freeze kinda said I look exactly like his sister and then proceeded to hit on me. Explicitly. I maybe...ran away."
A surprised laugh bursts from the refined woman beside her, full-bodied and genuine, her eyes sparkling with mirth and Kara's knocked a little breathless for a moment, utterly captivated and absently wonders if this is what Clark meant when he said the Luthors have the devil's charm.
"Well, at least you escaped. Think of poor Dr. Freeze stuck listening to that kind of thing all night. That is truly an inhumane punishment," Lena jokes, turning to lean her shoulder against the wall, facing Kara properly.
Kara smiles, mirroring her position. "I dunno, I just keep thinking about that guy's sister. I mean, he hits on girls 'cause they look like her; could you imagine having a brother like that?"
Lena's face pulls in distaste and she shakes her head. "I'm fairly certain I would just die. And that's coming from someone who isn't even genetically related to their family."
"Wait, you're not a real Luthor?" Kara blurts before her mind even has time to process the words spilling out of her mouth. "I-I mean, shit, no, not that you're not a real Luthor. I didn't mean that. Like, I'm sure you're a real Luthor, or, I mean, if you wanna be a real Luthor, or I-I just, I just meant, like, are you adopted, 'c-cause I am. Adopted, that is. When I was thirteen. An-and I know sometimes it feels like, like, you're not really like, I dunno, sometimes people say things and, like, yeah, you don't share genetics, but that's not what family is, and, and I know that be-because I'm...adopted too." Kara trails off, wincing to herself, unable to look Lena in the eye, completely certain she's just scared the woman off.
But when Lena doesn't immediately walk away from her or start shouting, Kara hazards a glance up at Lena's face, and finds the woman's biting back a smile, her eyes full of endearment and just a hint of teasing.
Kara blushes all the way to her ears. "Sorry. That was...a lot. I'm sorry."
"You're fine," Lena says softly, affectionately, eyes mapping over Kara's face in a way that makes Kara's chest flutter uncontrollably.
Lena shifts closer once again and Kara's suddenly aware of just how close they've gotten, just a few scant inches between their faces, and Kara's brain short-circuits, desperately trying to figure out how that happened and what to do with it now.
"Do you—" Kara clears her throat, eyes finding Lena's lips of their own accord, before she forces them back up to meet that hypnotizing gaze. "Do you have to go back inside? Or do you maybe want to…"
Lena's eyes are full of intent when they flash down to Kara' mouth. "Do I want to, what?"
Kara swallows and licks her lips, distantly aware she's drifting in, her fingertips brushing Lena's cheek, and she can vaguely hear a voice in her head asking her what the hell she thinks she's doing, to which she really has no good answer.
"I—"
"Miss Luthor!"
The voice shatters the moment and they jerk apart, both flushed and reeling.
"I'll just be a moment," Lena calls back, absently flicking away her mostly unfinished cigarette, now long cold, and turns back to Kara, her arms crossed under her breasts protectively, the cold reality having returned to her eyes, though they still flash apologetic and torn. "I'm sorry. That was...I shouldn't've—"
"It's cool, I understand," Kara jumps in sincerely, wrestling as much disappointment out of her smile as she can, wanting only to give the woman some sort of peace of mind. "You have a lot going on. I get it. An-and you know, who knows, maybe we'll get another chance. Someday." Which sounds way too heavy for something that amounts to nothing more than twenty minutes and a few dozen words between literal strangers, and Kara braces for dismissal.
But Lena surprises her again by stepping back into her, one hand braced on Kara's upper chest when she lifts up on her toes to press a sweet, lingering kiss to the corner of Kara's mouth.
"I certainly hope so," Lena whispers and drops back down, her eyes catching Kara's for just a moment before she ducks her head and walks away, the sound of her heels clicking on the stone ground echoing in Kara's ears long after the courtroom door closes behind her.
Kara finally lets out a long breath once people begin trickling from the building, gives herself a hard shake and goes to collect her belongings before Clark emerges.
And she knows it's ridiculous to hope, and that the chances are astronomical, but when she straightens back up, her bag slung over her shoulder, and catches the briefest glimpse of Lena's head in the crowd, for just a moment, Kara lets herself imagine someday.
And she smiles.
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fin